Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare motivation, engagement and achievement in two teaching conditions; one focusing on a skill-drill-game approach, and the second using Sport Education. Forty high school students were randomly selected to participate in either a Sport Education season or a Skill-Drill-Game unit. Post intervention measures of student enjoyment/interest, effort/importance, perceived competence, and pressure/tension were obtained for both groups. A daily gauge of engagement was obtained through pedometry. A pre- and postintervention measure of aerobic fitness was used to assess achievement. ANOVAs indicated a significant difference between groups for effort/importance (p= .012) and enjoyment/interest (p= .005), but not for pressure/tension (p= .762) or perceived competence (p= .218). Three separate oneway ANOVAs indicated that the SEM group took significantly more steps than the SDG group during the introduction and skill practice phase of the season/unit, during the preseason/modified games phase, and also during the regular season/game play phase. ANOVAs indicated a significant difference between groups on both engagement (p= .005) and aerobic fitness (p= .048). The results of this study provide initial, but cautious support for the notion that participation in Sport Education moves students towards more autonomous forms of motivation, which in turn results in greater levels of engagement in classes. The results support Sport Education as a viable curricular model for teachers in order to promote engagement in physical education. The challenge now is to plan studies that formally test this notion, and also use more sophisticated measures of engagement that use both the dimensions of active involvement as well as emotional intensity and effort.

Keywords

Sport Education, Physical Activity, Aerobic Fitness, Motivation,

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